Headlines
Ekweremadu’s Assault: Ebonyi Gov, Dave Umahi Is Next, Says IPOB
The Indigenous People of Biafra on Wednesday said it had no regret attacking a former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekeremadu, in Nuremberg, Germany.
It said the next target would be the Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, if he failed to retrace his steps.
An official of the group, China Edoziem, said this in a statement made available to our correspondent in Awka, Anambra State.
It described those condemning the attack on Ekweremadu as sycophants and “Fulani apologies”.
The statement reads in part,” The Indigenous People of Biafra, led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, will continue in the avowed pursuit of our right of existence as a people, independent of the evil enclave called Nigeria.
“We’ll be unhindered, unperturbed and unfazed by the cacophony of morally bankrupt manufactured voices that appear to rally round one of them, Ike Ekweremadu.
“Going through the vomit of some of these faceless sycophants with no iota of influence on the ground in Biafraland apart from dishing out meaningless drivel in the name of press statements, one is confronted with the mindset of a people living in a Banana Republic in which all forms of freedom of expression is brutally repressed and mediocrity extolled to high heavens.”
The statement added, “It is imperative to state that in making that choice, there will be no differentiating between the subservient Biafran politician(s) who see nothing and hear nothing wrong when Biafraland is under Fulani military siege and their caliphate masters that dehumanise, abduct, torture and murder at will.
“Very soon, we shall show Dave Umahi, the governor of Ebonyi State that IPOB has not only the capacity and reach but also the power to achieve our set objectives and fulfil our promise to the living and the dead.
“We are waiting for them and their trumpeters in all the civilized nations of the world. The story of their humiliation will become a subject of study in foreign institutions. Our struggle has shifted to the international arena where every eye will be watching and taking note”.
Meanwhile, the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council, has said the attack on Ekweremadu was a wake-up call for all corrupt and ’unrepentant’ Igbo leaders.
The President-General of the youth group, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said this in a statement on Wednesday.
The statement read in part, “Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide observed that tension is building up in many quarters in the South-East as many Igbo leaders had hurriedly cancelled their trips abroad over the recent harassment and mob action against a respected Igbo son and politician, Sen Ike Ekweremadu, at the New Yam Festival at Nuremberg Germany recently.
“ONYC pleads with our angry Igbo youths and agitators to shelve any planned violent mob action against Igbo leaders here in Nigeria and abroad at the moment and wait to see how many leaders will turn a new leaf as we feel the anger in the air.
“But Ekweremadu’s assault is a wake-up call for the unrepentant Igbo leaders who had betrayed the confidence of our people in governance. Igbo leaders should be mindful of their utterances, actions and decisions on issues affecting the Igbo.”
The Punch
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
